Summary of the Course
This course was absolutely amazing! I saw the coolest things and got to visit the most historic places. I originally thought that each borough was the same throughout. I learned that even within the boroughs, there can be many differences in culture, language, traditions, and cuisines. One block could be primarily Latin while the next block could be primarily Indian. I thought we were going to visit the big museums like the Met, the Guggenheim, and the Museum of Natural History. I could never have been more wrong. The only big museum that we visited was the MOMA, and thanks to that one time experience, I will probably not be visiting that Museum again anytime soon. My favorite museums were the MMI, the Tenement Museum, and the Merchant's house.
What I loved about the course was that for every location we visited, we were given a history of how started and how it came about through the different times in history. I visited places that I never would have known were even there if I wasn't looking for it. They are great little treasures that are easily, but unfortunately missed.
All of the different historical landmarks, the different cultures, and waves of Immigration all have contributed to the richness of the history of NYC. Each Borough in itself could be it's own little city (and all of them were).
We followed Immigration from the 1600's with the Dutch, to the Immigration of the Germans and the Italians, to the Irish Immigration, The Chinese Immigration, and finally, the Latin Immigration. Each set of Immigrants adding their own influences and flavors to the community that they resided in.
We saw historic landmarks such as the Battle of Brooklyn, The Frauncis Tavern, and Battery Park that all had important roles in our nation's war history. Along with the landmarks, we followed many important historical figures. Some were familiar to me, others were not, but became interesting to me once I learned about them. They included George Washington, Stamford White, Ulysses S. Grant, the Vanderbilts, the Delanceys, the Stuyvesants, the Moore family from the tenement museum, and Henry Ward Beecher. PS- I agree with Mike that White was a nasty pervert. Karma has a funny way of coming around.
We also visited the most beautiful Cathedrals and places of worship. Amazingly, I didn't know they had a place in NYC history, but they do, and even more importantly, their contribution to NYC is significant. Among them we visited St. John the Divine, St. Paul's, Bialystok Synagogue, and Eastern State Buddhist Temple.
Along the way, we had several tour guides. My favorites included the poet who showed us through "El Barrio" and Jeff. The poet was hip and cool, and he made everything that he said sound so interesting because of his enthusiasm. Jeff was not overly exciting, but I was truly impressed by how much of the city he knew. If he wrote a book about NYC, I would absolutely buy it. The amount of knowledge and it's depth that he has shared with us is truly priceless.
I am very appreciative of everything that I saw and all of the places I have visited. I did not like everything that was shown, like architectural structures of buildings, but I did like most of it. I hope that they keep this course going because it truly is an amazing course. There is no other opportunity that you will get to go on weekly field trips, experience new things, walk through living time capsules, and earn college credits for it. It's a win win.
What I loved about the course was that for every location we visited, we were given a history of how started and how it came about through the different times in history. I visited places that I never would have known were even there if I wasn't looking for it. They are great little treasures that are easily, but unfortunately missed.
All of the different historical landmarks, the different cultures, and waves of Immigration all have contributed to the richness of the history of NYC. Each Borough in itself could be it's own little city (and all of them were).
We followed Immigration from the 1600's with the Dutch, to the Immigration of the Germans and the Italians, to the Irish Immigration, The Chinese Immigration, and finally, the Latin Immigration. Each set of Immigrants adding their own influences and flavors to the community that they resided in.
We saw historic landmarks such as the Battle of Brooklyn, The Frauncis Tavern, and Battery Park that all had important roles in our nation's war history. Along with the landmarks, we followed many important historical figures. Some were familiar to me, others were not, but became interesting to me once I learned about them. They included George Washington, Stamford White, Ulysses S. Grant, the Vanderbilts, the Delanceys, the Stuyvesants, the Moore family from the tenement museum, and Henry Ward Beecher. PS- I agree with Mike that White was a nasty pervert. Karma has a funny way of coming around.
We also visited the most beautiful Cathedrals and places of worship. Amazingly, I didn't know they had a place in NYC history, but they do, and even more importantly, their contribution to NYC is significant. Among them we visited St. John the Divine, St. Paul's, Bialystok Synagogue, and Eastern State Buddhist Temple.
Along the way, we had several tour guides. My favorites included the poet who showed us through "El Barrio" and Jeff. The poet was hip and cool, and he made everything that he said sound so interesting because of his enthusiasm. Jeff was not overly exciting, but I was truly impressed by how much of the city he knew. If he wrote a book about NYC, I would absolutely buy it. The amount of knowledge and it's depth that he has shared with us is truly priceless.
I am very appreciative of everything that I saw and all of the places I have visited. I did not like everything that was shown, like architectural structures of buildings, but I did like most of it. I hope that they keep this course going because it truly is an amazing course. There is no other opportunity that you will get to go on weekly field trips, experience new things, walk through living time capsules, and earn college credits for it. It's a win win.